2022 DCM Novice Thread

Well done to everyone today. Some great performances that bode well going forward.

my day wasn't one of those great performances but not the end of the world, I’ll see again in the half and reassess the plans then for the full of that doesn’t go well either.

Wasn’t ideal prep with travelling this week and woke up with my tummy not feeling the best. Found it tonight to eat breakfast. The whole way into the park thought it was some sort of serious race day nerves but felt much worse. Took on a gel before the start as I have done in every other race and found if awful hard to digest. First few km were fine but then had to stop to be sick twice and walked the water stations to try to see if I could right it. All in all 3 minutes off the planned pace but taking it with a pinch of salt as I think there was outside influences in that and 3 minutes with being unwell is pretty good in my books.

Really enjoyed that run today, preparation was better than for the fingal 10k but didn't expect to run it as fast as I did (1:14:42). Overall delighted with the result.

Had 1:18 as a tough but achievable goal, and 1:16 as a real stretch target.

Given the downhill at the start I thought I needed to bank a few seconds ahead of average planned pace so went out quite fast (first 5k @ 4:32per km).

Just took it km by km then and expected the legs to give up but managed to get all the way though without any major drama. Ended up taking about a minute off my 10k PB over the first part of the race. Finished strong aswell with last 3km at about 4:29average.

Took two gels (at 8km and 12km), not sure if they would make much difference in a relatively short distance but maybe even just gave me some confidence that I had that energy in the tank.

Overall delighted and today has really reinforced how beneficial trusting the slow runs in training. Onwards and upwards to the HM now in a month.

As an aside - was it measured slightly wrong, everyone seems to have about 16.2km on the watches? Maybe it's just natural from not running perfect racing lines..

Had a good run today in FD 10 mile. Finished in 1hr 21m 39secs.

I hadn't run in the Phoenix Park before so it was an enjoyable occasion. I was targetting 80-85mins so happy enough with the time. Started off the first 4 miles under the 80 mins pace and feeling good. I was worried about when we hit uphill sections and it did slow me down by about 30 secs compared with first 4 miles. After that I settled into a 8min 15 secs per mile and took an energy gel at about 6 miles.

Only stopped at 1 water station as I found drinking from the cups messy and a bit disruptive. 2nd half of the race was slower than the first half but overall I was happy that I had kept my pace reasonably consistent throughout (allowing for the hills). Definitely learnt a few lessons from the Fingal 10K.

Any advice on what to target for marathon pace based on above time?

What was your result? No need to be coy, this is a supportive environment! 😉

We can only advise if we know what you are doing. I see you're on the strava group but your settings are private - maybe you didn't realise.

Hi All, I'm reporting back on my 10 mile race today. I couldn't make the FD yesterday so I headed for the Wild Atlantic 10 Miler in Ballina earlier today. Really well organised race, conditions were perfect and a lovely route too. I wasn't sure what pace to aim for but decided on around 5m/km. I did my fastest ever 10km at Christmas and that was the pace I was just about able to hold on to at that time. I didn't really look at my watch today to see my pace for the first couple of km's. When I did check I was doing around 4.47. I was thinking I had gone out too fast but decided I'd try and hold on at that pace. It was tough going but I did manage to hold on and I was delighted with the result. I ended up getting a 10km PB on the way and also a 10mile PB. Chip time 1:17. I do know my pace would have definitely dropped off if I had to run any bit further.

For me, its a definite sign the training is paying off. Thanks Coaches :) @Laineyfrecks @Murph_D @Lambay island

I also got a surprise with my heart rate. I always thought my max heart rate was 182 and never seen it above this before. Today I hit 193 and I was in the 180's for a lot of the race. I was pushing really hard. I'm not exactly sure what the heart rate means. Was I pushing too hard?

I suggest read back over some of last week's discussion about gels, no point in repeating it all again. I think you are struggling because you are running way too fast for most of your runs. Faster than marathon pace. In fact some of these runs are close to your 5k pace. Seriously, you will feel stronger if you run slower and allow your body to make the adaptions you need to run 26.2 miles.

Well done to all who competed in the 10K. Seems to be mostly positive experiences.

My own week went as follows :

Monday - Rest

Tuesday 10KM @ 5.0 pace

Weds 12.5km@ 6.12 pace

Thursday Rest

Friday 28km @5.56 pace

Sat Rest

Sunday 10km @6.06 Pace.

A bit of an unstructured week with work & then going camping with kids at the weekend meant bringing the Long run forward to Friday morning. Sleeping on the floor of a tent wasn't ideal after the long run & certainly missed my bed. I wasn't following any plan this week - was just trying to fit some runs in. Was happy with the Long run.

Week 8 done!

Monday 5km easy pace 6:17 / km

Tuesday 6.5km easy w/ strides x5 

Wednesday 8km easy pace 6:12 / km

Friday 3.2km easy pace 6:01 / km

Saturday FD 10 Mile time 82:06

This was a tough week for me, well one day in particular. Monday and Tuesday runs felt ok. Wednesday's run was down as 8km easy but with the FD coming I thought maybe I'd add a few strides just to get more feel for upping the pace. When I started the run I felt really stiff and achey. This sometimes happens and after warming up it's fine. But not this time. It just got worse as the run went on. If the pain had been in one area I would probably have stopped the run but it was everywhere. I tried a couple of times to speed up a bit but couldn't. My lower back hurt, both knees and hips. Honestly during the run I thought this might be it. Ironically it was one of the best paced easy runs I've done - every km was around 6:10/km. After the run I took 2 panadol and felt ok really. But I was dreading my next run and fairly concerned about the rest of the plan and obviously having the FD 10 mile at the weekend. I didn't run Thursday. On friday I played golf in the morning and even broke into a slight jog a few times just to see how it felt. In the afternoon, I did 2 miles easy per the plan and it felt ok - nothing like wednesday thankfully. I wasn't sure how approach the FD 10 mile. I thought about just doing it easy or maybe even just taking the weekend off.

Well I went on saturday in the end and am so glad I did. I parked in Cabra - around 40min walk to the start. I walked a bit and jogged a bit. It felt ok but not great. Before these races I normally feel a bit springy and am raring to go but there was definitely no spring. I was probably as nervous as I've been for any run and still didn't have a definite plan for it. In the end the race went as well as I could have hoped. I haven't done a huge amount of these but that was best I've done over any distance. I don't know how after what happened on wednesday. After settling in to the run and feeling good, I thought 5:10 would be a great average for the distance. Around the 6km mark and(I think) after the worst of the hills, my average pace was 5:06 so I thought maybe I could do a little better. My average pace slowed a little over the next few km's but was still under 5:10 and I felt really comfortable. I had looked at the course map before and thought there was steepish hill near the finish. But when I got to Castleknock gate and the was only 2km left I realised I must have got that wrong about the hill. So I was able to give it a bit more gas for the last 2 km. It felt great. My NRC app had my average pace for the run at 5:06/km. The second half of the run was a few seconds quicker than the first too. The chip time was 82:06 - PB! 

In 2019 I did the Irish Runner series and DCM HM in the PP and what a place it is to run in. I'm never not amazed by what a beautiful place it is and keep saying I must take the kids back to explore it a bit more - especially the Liffey side of Chesterfield and not just the zoo! :) I've really enjoyed all the series events this year - honestly couldn't fault them for any thing. I signed up for the this in early 2020 and just think it's fantastic value for the amount of organising that must go into it and you get a decent goody bag and t-shirt AND banana! 

Anyway, apologies for the long and winding post. I still don't know what to make of wednesday's run. I'm kind of hoping that someone might chime in and say that's perfectly normal or something(???).

It was great to see the other times and activity on the Strava group too. Well done to every one getting out there and not just the PP. And big thanks again to the mentors for the ongoing feedback and support!    

Well done on the race especially with the pre race added nerves after Wed run.

Hard to know for definite regarding what was up on Wednesday but there is a strong chance its simply just a bit of training/cumulative fatigue. That would be normal around this stage of marathon training anyway. I felt a bit more laboured towards the end of last week too. The fact that as you say there was no particular area that was sorer would make me lean towards that. Ensure you are getting plenty of water on board throughout the week. If you feel like that again, there is no real downside to cutting the run short and giving your body the chance to recover. If it becomes more of a regular thing, I would suggest you seek physio/medical advice.

Week 10 complete

After a two day wedding at the weekend I wasn't looking forward to this week but it turned out better than hoped. I knew I was going to be in Galway on Friday & Saturday so I had to move the Long Run forward to Friday morning.

Monday - 8.5m steady @ 8.28min/mile

Tuesday - Easy 4 mile with strides

Wednesday - Steady 10m @ PMP 8.26 min/miles

Thursday - Rest

Friday - 20 mile LSR with 10 @ PMP.

Saturday - 3mile recovery

Deliberately picked a LSR route with hills to keep me slower, but haven't felt as strong in a run in a long time. First ten were averaging around 9.10 min/miles and then the last ten were around 8.30min miles. I wore my running pack to put two soft pouches of water in them to take with a couple of gels I had with me and just to sip on every mile as I wouldn't drink much water when running.

Was out the door at 5.45am after a small bowl of porridge. The pack was pressing on my stomach and also on my heart rate strap so the first nine miles were not pleasant and had to stop for a comfort break!!! After that I took a gel at mile 10, didn't realise it was a caffeine berry one and it felt a bit weird but actually pleasant enough, took a second (tropical) one at mile 15 and I'll not be taking that again. Way too gloopy and thick with bits in it.

Legs and body held up brilliantly and the steady runs during the week at PMP have boosted my confidence but still undecided what to do about hydration when doing the marathon. When I'm running in the hills with the pack on it doesn't feel as uncomfortable as when trying to run fast on the flat and the stomach problem didn't help at all. I might buy a gel belt because I think I'll probably end up taking at least three gels with me and don't want to be carrying them in pockets.

This week is more of the same and definitely off the drink now until race day after a very heavy two days in Galway. Have a 10 mile race on Saturday and the option of a HM on my doorstep on the Sunday, I might just go and watch the elites run it or jog a few easy miles of it.

Well done all on the FD times, good running.

Thanks @Lambay island

Week9/10

Was on holidays last week so didn't get to put in my week

Mon 5,2 km 33:33 6:27/km

Tue 11,3 km 1:06:46 5:55/km

Thu 7,4 km 46:17 6:16/km

Sat 23,5 km 2:36:57 6:41/km -- Early start to fit this in.

Mon 5,4 km 35:12 6:30/km

Thu 11,3 km 1:14:52 6:37/km -- Hard run couldn't find a rhythm probably due to the travelling the day before

Sat 25,0 km 2:44:19 6:34/km -- Felt good for the first 15 k or so might have gone out a little quicker than I should.

Sun 5,2 km 33:35 6:28/km

Only managed to get 4 runs done the last 2 weeks but made sure to get the long runs in. I'm sure water slides and roller coasters counts as cross training.

17th of September is looking like a busy one for me so will more than likely have to skip the DHM.

Thinking of running the Ratoath Half the week before. Anyone ever done it before?